Category Archives: apologetics

In his book, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins has described the Atonement:

“I have described atonement, the central doctrine of Christianity, as vicious, sado-masochistic and repellent. We should also dismiss it as barking mad, but for its ubiquitous familiarity which has dulled our objectivity. If God wanted to forgive our sins, why not just forgive them, without having himself tortured and executed in payment…”[1]

What can be said of this? Well, first of all, it seems that Dr. Dawkins has misunderstood the doctrine of Atonement. While it may be true that our sins can be forgiven outright, this doesn’t tell the whole story. Read the rest of this entry »

Many atheists claim that Paul both declared he lied to advance the Gospel and maintained that the word of God should be supported, even if it is found to be false. For example, Paul concludes in Romans 3:4 that God must be true, even if all man are found to be liars. Is this just another way of saying: even if God lies we must consider his lie to be true?[1] Must we contradict truth in order to support the word of God? Many claim that is exactly what Christians must believe, and if true, why should anyone believe us? Why should anyone even consider the logic I used to support God’s word in this series about God’s morality?[2]Read the rest of this entry »

Christians have been accused of twisting Scripture and tweaking the text in order defend God who tells his faithful to lie for him, and not only so, but sometimes this leads to the death of the one being deceived. In other words, Christians use deception, just as our God does. First, we use deception upon one another, presumably to keep the faithful devoted to God. Secondly, we practice deception against others through evangelism in order to attract unsuspecting people into the fold. Support for such an accusation comes from using certain Scriptures out of context in order to paint an evil and disturbing portrait of the Lord. For example, according to this argument, God is not above using lying spirits to deceive and kill unsuspecting folks (1Kings 22:22).[1]Read the rest of this entry »

At the very heart of any criticism of God’s judgment of the Canaanites is the question of our source of moral consciousness. If morality is not what God says it is, then it must be what man says it is. If morality is what God says it is, then we have no right to judge God for doing whatever he does, because all of his judgments are good (moral – see Deuteronomy 32:4). On the other hand, if morality is what man says it is, how have we come upon this knowledge of knowing right from wrong? What is its foundation, and can we trust it? Read the rest of this entry »

Often the accepted leadership of the new atheism, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens,[1] Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett (also referred to as the Four Horsemen) have argued that religion is not only a delusion but a dangerous delusion. It seems that they believe religion is at the root of all our problems. They not only advocate separation from religion but desire to separate religion from public affairs. In other words they advocate religious impotence. No religion of any kind (but especially Christianity) should have a public voice, including in education. It seems, according to their point of view, if religion should become irrelevant, many, if not all, of our problems would be solved. Read the rest of this entry »

Some Biblical critics may argue that the proposition that Israel waged war with the Canaanites at the command of God, gives carte blanche permission for all would be religious terrorists to do as they please and claim “God told me to do it!”[1] This was the battle cry of the Crusades, and it is behind the jihad terrorism of our day, including the 9/11 tragedy. Yet, this reasoning cannot be reconciled with the Bible. God’s commands to Israel under Moses and Joshua were unique and never again repeated throughout Israel’s history. Saul didn’t seek to have the Philistines devoted to destruction, and David didn’t seek such a thing in any of his campaigns against the nations surrounding Israel. Neither did any of the kings of Israel or Judah seek to devote any of their enemies to destruction in the wars they took part in later. One cannot reasonably justify war or indiscriminate killing by using the Bible for one’s support. Read the rest of this entry »

In Matthew 19:8 Jesus told the Pharisees who questioned him about divorce that Moses allowed divorce because of their hard hearts. As a whole, ancient Israel simply wouldn’t accept a monogamous relationship. Therefore, in order to protect the more vulnerable woman, God (through Moses) commanded Israel how former wives and their children should be treated in the event a man should marry another woman. Even so, and remembering that it has been my position that Israel was at the time of his inheritance no more righteous than the Egyptians whom God had judged on Israel’s behalf, this idea of a hard heart should be explored in the light of the Canaanite wars. Read the rest of this entry »